Novel nano-structured clays were synthesized from cation exchange reaction by the intercalation of rhodium complexes with ligand spacers into clay. Expansion of interlayer space of the modified clays depends on the spacers. A unique conformation of pillar complexes was detected by cross polarization magic angle spinning (CP MAS) NMR.

Eu2+, Dy3+ co-doped strontium aluminate (SrAl2O4) phosphor nanometer powders with high brightness and long afterglow were prepared by heating the precursor gel (resulted from sol-gel method) at 900℃ and a reductive atmosphere of active carbon. The average particle size of the SrAl2O4:Eu, Dy phosphor powders was 59±7nm and its optical properties have been studied systematically. The broad band UV excited luminescence of the SrAl2O4: Eu, Dy was observed at λmax=506nm due to transitions from the 4f65d1 to the 4f7 configuration of the Eu2+ ion. The results indicated that the main peaks in the emission and excitation spectrum shifted to the short wavelength compared with phosphor obtained by the solid-state reaction synthesis method. The decay speed of the afterglow for nanometer phosphors was faster than that obtained by the solid-state reaction method.

Researchers have been playing with advanced synthetic materials known as polymers and composites for several de-cades now. In the 1980s, a buzz word for materials scientists was "intelligent" or "smart" materials. In the mid-1990s the new buzzing became the creation nanostructured materials.[1] Nanometer is one billionth part of a meter. Literally "nano" represents 0.000000001 or 10 9. Defined broadly, the term "nanostructured" is used to describe materials characterized by structural features of less than 100nm in average size. The average size of an atom is of the order of 1 to 2 A in radius. 1 nanometer comprises 10 A, and hence in one nanometer, there may be 3-5 atoms, depending on the atomic radii. Man-ufactured products are made from atoms and the properties of such products depend on their atomic structure. If the car-bon atoms in coal are rearranged, diamonds can be made. Seashells, as we all know, are extraordinary tough and this crack and shatter resistant property are attributed by an ex-quisite nanostructure.[2] Nanotech is the most significant emerging materials technology for the next century. Research in nanostructured materials is motivated by the belief that ability to control the nanostructure of these materials can re-sult in enhanced properties at the macroscale viz. increased hardness, ductility, catalytic enhancement, selective absorp-tion, higher efficiency optical or electrical behavior. Experi-ments in the field of nanostructured materials have produced very significant and interesting results. The science of ceramic nanoparticles is no exception with much success in areas in-cluding synthesis, surface science, texturology, catalysis etc.[3] Chemistry of Nanoparticles Within the intermediate region of 2-10nm, neither quan-tum chemistry nor classical laws of physics hold. For example--in spherical nanoparticles with a size of 3nm, 50% of the atoms or ions are on the surface, allowing the possibility of manipulation of bulk properties by surface effects.[3] As the particles become smaller in size they may take on different morphologies that may alter surface chemistry and adsorp-tion properties in addition to increasing the surface area. These nanoparticles also possess a much greater number of defect sites per unit surface area, which are believed to be responsible for the observed chemistry. As the size of a parti-cle decreases, the percentage of atoms residing on the surface increases and of course these surface atoms are expected to be more reactive than their bulk counterparts as a result of coordinative unsaturation. Because of this and because of the fact that surface-to-volume ratio is large, it is not unusual to see unique chemical, physical or adsorptive properties and characteristics for nanoparticles.

Nickel oxide (NiO) nanotubules were fabricated by a dodecylsulfate-mediated templating method in a homogeneous precipitation process. The nanotubules obtained have diameters of 20-160nm and wall thickness of 8-50 nm with lengths up to several micrometers. The crystallinity, morphology and structure features of the NiO nanotubules were investigated by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), infrared (IR) spectrum, etc.

Mesoporous titanium dioxide nanosized powder with high specific surface area and anatase wall was synthesized via hydrothermal process by using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant-directing agent and pore-forming agent. The resulting materials were characterized by XRD, nitrogen adsorption, FESEM, TEM, and FT-IR spectroscopy. The as-synthesized mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles have mean diameter of 17.6nm with mean pore size of 2.1nm. The specific surface area of the as-synthesized mesoporous nanosized TiO2 exceeded 430m2/g and that of the samples after calcination at 600℃ still have 221.9m2/g. The mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles show significant activities on the oxidation of Rhodamine B (RB). The large surface area, small crystalline size, and well-crystallized anatase mesostructure can explain the high photocatalytic activity of mesoporous TiO2 nanoparticles calcined at 400℃.